It’s down to the final four: Chehon, Eliana, Cyrus and Tiffany. After last week’s Moment of Crazypants by Nigel Lythgoe, it seems even more likely that Cyrus will be the winning guy this season. Even if you weren’t rooting for Cyrus before Nigel informed the shellshocked dancer that he would not be voting for him, you still might have picked up the phone to give him a pity vote. I’m fairly sure Cyrus will win, but I wonder if this is the win he really wants — one that might be driven by people feeling sorry for him. Of course, a big pile of money should soothe that wound a little bit. In any case, I’m going to do my best to live blog this, so here we go!
8:01pm – Hey, our top twenty dancers are back! We see Alexa & Daniel, Amber & Nick, Amelia & Will, Audrey & Matthew, Janaya & Brandon, Janelle & Dareian, Lindsay & Cole, and Witney & George.
8:03pm – Oh, and the top four. Eliana, Chehon, Tiffany and Cyrus.
8:04pm – Time to meet our judges! Not that anything they have to say counts for anything! We have Lil’ C, Adam Shankman, Debbie Allen, Tyce DiOrio, Mary Murphy, and that jerk (kidding! sort of!) Nigel Lythgoe.
8:08pm – After some chit chat, Cat finally informs us we have an opening number, the BEST OPENING NUMBER EVER. We’ll be the judges of that, Cat. It’s the creation of Sonya Tayeh and Christopher Scott, so hey, maybe Cat isn’t overselling it.
8:10pm – Okay, that was pretty good. Was Christopher Scott’s contribution just getting Cyrus across the stage, though? Otherwise, it seemed very Sonya, which is always a good thing. Something to ponder over the commercial break.
8:14pm – Oh, we’re doing that “let the judges request a redo of a favorite routine” thing. I was hoping maybe that was tossed out along with the results show, but oh well. Nigel wants to see a Travis Wall/”Titanic” routine by contemporary dancers Matthew and Audrey. This was a pretty exceptional routine. It was all about the couch leap by Audrey. And it’s still about the couch leap by Audrey.
8:17pm – Although I don’t like the rehashing aspect of this when all we want to know is who won, the performances do seem a little stronger when no one’s worried about being eliminated or judged.
8:19pm – Lil’ C requests the Twitch/Witney hip hop routine. Witney is perhaps even funkier the second time around, yo.
8:27pm – Debbie Allen wants to see Sonya’s routine for Tiffany and George. Watching this, I miss George. He should have lasted on the show longer.
8:30pm – Now we have our top five moments from the auditions. Leroy Martinez was a fat guy who could really dance, was the only member of his family who hadn’t been in jail, and he made Adam Shankman cry.
8:32pm – Adam Shankman picks a paso doble by Cole and Lindsay. Oh, I do not mind seeing this again. I have to say — if an unconventional dancer was going to make final four, how could it have not been Cole?
8:39pm – Tyce picks a routine for Amelia and Will choreographed by NappyTabs to “Lovecats” by the Cure. This was cute.
8:42pm – The number 4 most memorable audition is by the Dallas housewife who didn’t want to take time away from her two kids. Two kids who made her audition painfully cute. I’m sure producers drooled at the opportunity to make an audition poignant and family-friendly and gosh-darned adorable. I’m just grateful she didn’t make the top 20 so we didn’t have to see this maudlin crap every week.
8:43pm – Mary picks the sad suitcase routine by Tyce. She says it’s inspired by the Holocaust, but I think it could apply to a lot of different things. The Holocaust, Japanese-American internment camps, fan-themed Carnival Cruises, all sorts of things. It’s Chehon and Katherine and yes, still a great routine. Katherine’s hair is especially crisis-rific.
8:50pm – Eliana gets to pick the dance she wants to recreate for the finale. Huh, that’s new. She decides on the “Bang, Bang” routine with Alex Wong. Goooood choice. This dance was the one that made her a frontrunner, if you ask me.
8:54pm – Nigel tells us why he thinks Eliana is his favorite girl this season. He tells her that every choreographer in Vegas wanted her in the top 20. Desmond Richardson wants to hire her for his company. He tells her that Tiffany has been perfect, so America has gotten it right by choosing them both. Lots of gushing. I will be curious to hear him try to repeat this for the guys, as he has already told Cyrus he wants him gone.
8:55pm – The third most memorable audition moment with the Ninja Twins. Hey, I just remembered — this is about naming the winners, right? And that’s about an hour away. Sigh.
8:56pm – Cat picks a disco routine by Tiffany and all star Brandon. Nigel is right about Tiffany — she hasn’t screwed up, at least not memorably, this season. Brandon looks winded. Those disco routines are CRAZY and I want more of them!
9:03pm – Chehon gets his chance to pick a dance. He tells us he had to break through an emotional wall that was built by ballet training, but he did it! He thinks the routine that helped him grow the most was the Argentine tango he performed with all star Tanya. It’s Mary’s turn to tell him he’s wonderful. Mary tells him he’s experienced greatness on the show. She gets choked up.
9:07pm – A montage of hip hop routines from earlier in the season. This is a very long into for a brand new routine featuring Twitch, Comfort, Cyrus and Christopher Scott. It’s a great routine, just great. But I find myself watching Twitch and Comfort as opposed to Cyrus.
9:14pm – It’s Tiffany’s turn to choose her routine. She loved working with Sonya Tayeh, but she chooses her routine with all star Ade (which was choreographed by Mandy Moore). Oh yeah, I remember this. The horrible Celine Dion song. Yeah, I didn’t need to see this twice, although it is better on mute.
9:17pm – Mary tells Tiffany why she’s wonderful. Mary tells her she’s spectacular and that she’s matured as a dancer. Again, she gets choked up. Tiffany cries. Why is Mary wearing a sequined Christmas pointsetta on her dress? Does she know it’s only September?
9:18pm – Back to the auditions. Number two is Dallas’ exorcist style dancer guy. Remember him? He takes your soul then gives it back to you. Or something. In his dance, I think he actually took out his imaginary heart and stabbed it with an imaginary knife. That made Mary cry, too. I think the theme for this evening was Mary crying.
9:19pm – Oh, wait! We’re moving on to number one! It’s Dragonhouse from Atlanta featuring Bryan Gaynor. They’re performing on stage. I actually find this a lot more entertaining than some of Christopher Scott’s routines. I love Bryan Gaynor, though. I was thinking Cyrus might do a cameo — as I recall, Cyrus and Bryan are roommates.
9:26pm – It’s Carly Rae Jepson performs her follow-up to “Call Me Maybe,” which is “This Kiss.” And confirmation that she is absolutely a one hit wonder.
9:30pm – We have time for just one more favorite routine of the season — but not before we watch a montage of memorable moments! Watch Nigel being lascivious! Watch women cry and children dance poorly! Watch weirdos! Oh, and there’s Cyrus. And there’s Amelia! And the scarecrow and the tin man and little Toto, too!
9:34pm – The last duet of the night will be Cyrus’ routine with Twitch. It’s still pretty awesome and, yes, reminds me of Nigel being a jerk immediately after we saw this last time. I’m not sure if he’s a jerk after this routine, too, because my Internet connection craps out. If someone saw the three, four minutes after this routine (I got back on during the commercial break), please fill in the details!
9:44pm – The top ten and the all-stars join forces to dance a routine that’s “Lion King” inspired. If you’ve seen “The Book of Mormon,” this is inadvertently hysterical. If you haven’t, it’s sexy “Lion King” and probably just fine. Cat tells us that we’ll find out who won after the commercial break. Oh, yeah! This is a results show! I’d totally forgotten.
9:51pm – The girls are up first. But before we get results, we watch a montage of important moments for both dancers. Oh, COME ON. We couldn’t have taken care of this earlier? You know, an hour ago, maybe? Essentially, we’re going to find out who the winners are and immediately cut to a commercial. The winner is… okay, they’re both crying from the montage. The winner is… Eliana. Lights flash everywhere!
9:55pm – On to the guys. Montage. The winner is… CHEHON. Whoa! I am SHOCKED. I am glad, but I am shocked. Cyrus looks happy for Chehon, but yes, a little crushed. So does Tiffany. But I’m more than thrilled that two really strong dancers — two BALLET dancers, no less — won this year.
So, do you think people took what Nigel said to heart? I really got the sense people were going to vote for Cyrus out of sympathy, honestly — I mean, Nigel came thisclose to calling Cyrus a circus act. But I’m glad cooler heads prevailed. I think it’s better for Cyrus in the long run — he surely could have used the money, but he won’t have haters resenting him, either. And Eliana, well, after that routine with Alex Wong she was just going to be impossible to beat.
What do you think of the results? Did you vote? Do you think Nigel swayed voters one way or the other?